Our Teachers

Dr.
Anna Charny, Managing Director and one of the founders or RSM- MetroWest, received
her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT. She has a lifelong interest
in teaching advanced mathematics to primary and secondary school
children. Her teaching and tutoring experience ranges from elementary
to graduate school.
She is a co-founder and the first Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Advanced Math and Science Academy (AMSA) Charter School in Marlborough,
MA, where she subsequently served for many years on the Board of Trustees. Dr. Charny also served on the Advisory Board of Computer
Science Unplugged, a non-profit organization developing methods and
materials for teaching computer science algorithms to elementary
and middle school students. Dr. Charny’s passion for quality
math and science education comes on top of her career of
a researcher in the area of advanced algorithms and protocols for the
Next Generation Internet. She has a number of
academic publications, contributed to a number of Internet standards, and authored 37 US patents.

Alexander Sukher holds an M.S. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from the Kharkov State University in Ukraine. He has worked for more than 35 years in research and engineering, and has extensive teaching experience in the Unites States and Europe. He has authored and co-authored multiple works in Computer Numerical Control Systems Theory and in Applied Approximation Theory. His hobby is the sport of badminton; he is a participant in and a winner of many Massachusetts State badminton tournaments, the gold, silver and bronze medalist in the US National Senior Championships and Games in 2006, 2011, 2013. Mr. Sukher teaches middle and high school math at RSM- MetroWest. He is also prepares school teams for participation in national and international math competitions.

Gene Sigalovsky, our elementary school teacher
who is adored by his students, has been with RSM- MetroWest
for ten years. He is passionate about teaching children – and
they respond by developing a true love for mathematics
and making fast progress. He loves a good workout in
the gym when he is not teaching his students or attending graduate school classes
at Framingham State University.

Sergey Belyaev earned his M.S. in applied Physics & Mathematics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 2004. He taught mathematics at the middle and high school level, specializing in gifted students’ education for ten years. He was a member of the All-Russian Congress of Teachers of Mathematics at Moscow State University. Sergey was named laureate and grant winner of the Zimin Dynasty Foundation (an organization supporting science literacy) for eight consecutive years.
He has authored several scientific papers, both in mathematics and mathematical pedagogy. Sergey joined RSM-MetroWest in 2014. He has two young children of his own, and enjoys working with our middle and high school age students.

Jose Schroen has a B.S. in chemical
engineering, an MBA, and a professional teaching license in high school mathematics & physics. She has experience in the
pharmaceutical, construction and commodity chemical industries
as a project engineer and manager. Ms. Schroen currently teaches math and physics
in public schools, and
teaches middle and high school math here at RSM- MetroWest.

Alfiya Yakupova earned her M.S. in Mathematics in Russia, then earned a B.S. in Computer Science from Framingham State University. She holds a Massachusetts teaching license for middle & high school mathematics. Her experience has included private tutoring, substitute teaching in middle and high schools in Massachusetts, and working with college students at the New Mexico Community College. Mrs.Yakupova has also worked as a software engineer. She is passionate about math education and teaching young people. Outside of the classroom, Mrs.Yakupova enjoys fine and performing arts, traveling, and working out at the gym.

Dr. Shanhong Ji
has a Ph.D in Engineering from University of California, Irvine.
He is currently a research and development engineer in the field of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Dr. Ji loves teaching, and is passionate about solving all kinds of mathematical problems and puzzles with children.
Shanhong enjoys playing all kinds of board games and he is particularly good at Chinese Chess, Bridge and Go.

Eva Honig has received an M.S. degree in Econometrics at the University of Latvia. She worked in the financial services industry both as a systems analyst and an advisor. Even in her leisure time Eva prefers an active lifestyle; she enjoys attending the performing arts, playing various sports, reading, and philosophical discussion. She is also a fabulous cook—she regularly prepares traditional and elaborate meals from scratch to share with family and friends.

Dr. Michael Beyzerovgraduated from the Moscow University of Railroad Engineering with an M.S. in Computer Science, and worked in the Moscow Scientific Institute of Railroad Engineering, where he earned his Ph.D in Engineering Science. In 1991 Michael immigrated to the US and worked as a software developer and consultant at various companies, including Oracle Corporation. Back in Moscow he used to teach mathematics at the middle and high school levels, and joined RSM-MetroWest in June of 2016, hoping to share his love for math with the middle and high school age students here. His other interests include prose and poetry, tennis, skiing, ballroom dancing and theatre.

Alexander Beider received his M.S. in Mathematics and Teacher of Mathematics from Odessa University . He has more than 20 years of experience teaching math in High school and Colleges in USSR and Israel. In his free time, Alexander enjoys reading books and playing chess.

Lata Varghese holds a Bachelor of Science (Honor's) degree in Physics and a Bachelor's degree in Education from the
Regional College of Education, Rajasthan, India.
She taught Physics and Math to Middle and High School students in a Senior Secondary High School in Delhi, India for over 13
years. Teaching for all these years has been an enriching experience, helping her cultivate a love for learning and
respect for others while embracing diversity and excellence in Education.

Barb Foisy received her BA from Cornell University and worked for sixteen years for International Business Machines, applying her mathematical and technical skills in the computer industry. She also consulted for the Addison Wesley Publishing Company to ensure curriculum alignment with the state mathematics frameworks. For the last ten years, she has been teaching and tutoring Math in Grades 2-11 in Holliston and Hopkinton, MA. She loves being outdoors, skiing, hiking and biking in her spare time.

Dina Veygman graduated from Boston University with MS degree in Computer Information Science and
earned her BS in Computer Science from Northeastern University where she currently teaches a variety of
technology classes for the College of Professional Studies as well as database classes for Bunker Hill Community College. Her interest in math comes from growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia and participating in math competitions.
Dina loves to read, travel and spend time with her family. She is teaching elementary school math at RSM-Metrowest.

Ronnie Marchev earned her M.S. in Computer Systems Engineering from Northeastern University and M.S. in Computer Science from Nanjing University in China. She works as a System Analyst at Sallie Mae. Math has always been her passion and favorite subject. She enjoys teaching kids and has been tutoring high school and college students math as well as coaching middle school math competition teams. Teaching at RSM has become part of her life, and she finds it rewarding seeing her students grow and learn. She enjoys singing and is an acomplished amateur singer. She is also a long distance runner. Playing board games with her kids is a way of relaxing for her, especially during the holiday season.

Joy Zhang holds an M.S. in Computer Science from Northeastern University. She has been working as a software engineering consultant for a pharmaceutical company for many years. Math has been her favorite subject and she enjoys solving math puzzles. In her spare time, she loves staying with her family, baking cookies/bread, listening music, singing aloud and dancing around with her kids at home. She also enjoys playing Chinese poker game with friends.

Iryna Tarasevich graduated from Belarusian State University with the MS degree in Mathematics, and earned her MS in Technical Science from Belarusian State Agrarian Technical University, where she taught mathematics and theoretical mechanics. Iryna loves to read, watch movies, travel and spend time with her family

Lou Mercuri, our chess master,
is actively teaching chess in the Boston area and in MetroWest. His students continue to improve and play at the highest levels for their age groups. Currently six of his students are rated in the top 100 for their age group in the US and compete in National Scholastic Championships.
As a player, he is a US Life Master; his rating has peaked at 2404 (Senior Master). He was awarded the International Title of FIDE Trainer at the Turin, Italy Olympiad in May 2006. This selective title is awarded to experienced chess coaches and trainers at the 2350 rating level. He is among the first chess trainers in the United States to be awarded this title by FIDE, the International Chess Organization.

Dr. Kenneth Thomas is an experienced Master (highest FIDE rating 2225, current 2023) with 27 years of university teaching. His chess coaching experience ranges from elementary schools to adults in Memphis, Chicago, and Boston. He coached the Hutchison School (Memphis, TN) to second place in the state elementary championships, and its first board was the winner of the overall individual event. He now teaches private clients in Boston and the Metrowest. He received his Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Princeton University and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago.

Alla Farizon holds an M.S. degree in Economics.
She has a passion for teaching children and has taught elementary and middle
school math at RSM for several years. In addition, she was one of the first coaches of the RSM- MetroWest junior MOEMS team. Mrs. Farizon is also Director of Operations at RSM- MetroWest.

Irene Kamergorodsky received her M.S.degree in Education from Kharkov National University, Ukraine, and her Massachusetts Teacher License (Elementary) from Framingham State University. She worked as an interpreter in the Soviet Trade Mission in Aden, South Yemen for three years, and taught for 20 years in public and private schools overseas (Georgia, Ukraine, and India). She worked in Massachusetts public schools for 12 years, and has taught in the Russian School of Mathematics since 2005.
Mrs. Kamergorodsky joined RSM- MetroWest in 2010. She couldn't be more passionate about teaching. She believes that every child can learn, feel comfortable, and have fun. In her spare time, Ms. Kamergorodsky enjoys walking, swimming, playing tennis, playing the piano, and travelling around the world.

Oxana Longinova holds a Masterís Degree in International Credit and Monetary Relationships from the University of International Relations in Moscow, and an M.S. in Project Management degree from Boston University where she is currently teaching in their Master of Science programs. Living and working in different countries (she came to the USA from Norway) combined with a genuine love of teaching has allowed her to create several tutoring programs in math and E.L.A. for young children that bring out the best from the multiple educational systems she was exposed to. Mrs. Longinova is teaching elementary school math at RSM-MetroWest.

Joyce Michel graduated from Yale with a BA in English--but in her high school she was a top math team competitor. She has worked as a research assistant in areas as diverse as pharmacology, patent law, and cognitive psychology--where she helped design and conduct intelligence tests. She has taught many things from violin to Hebrew; she homeschooled her three children for many years. In summer 2017 she took PROMYS for Teachers, an intensive graduate-level program in number theory at Boston University. At RSM-MetroWest Joyce enjoys welcoming incoming families, teaching classes, and contributing to the mainstream and math competition curricula. In her free time, Joyce enjoys solving puzzles, doing historical research, and running.

Dr. Brenda Zhuang received her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Boston University in 2007 after her M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She works as a principle engineer and development manager at MathWorks. She also serves as member of Technical Program Committee for many international conferences in Control Theory, Modeling and Simulation fields. She has also served as a Grand Award Judge for the 2014 Intel Science & Engineering Fair. Dr. Zhuang loves working with students and solving academic problems with them. She has taught enrichment programs to elementary school students and tutored high school and college students in mathematics for more than 10 years. When she is not coding or teaching, she enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, camping and kayaking.

Dr. Dmitry Vedensky has an M.S. in Finance from Boston College and a Ph.D. in Mathematics from the Israel Institute of Technology. He has a passion for teaching advanced math. His experience includes teaching and tutoring students from middle school to university graduate school in Russia, Israel and U.S. and spans over 20 years. Dmitry's research interests are in Quantitative Finance. He has authored a number of academic publications and presented the results of his research in many countries around the world.

Dr. Kido Eum received a Ph.D. from Seoul National University, and he worked as a lecturer at Yong-In University and Hankyong National University in South Korea and published many peer-reviewed works on epidemiology. He is a biostatistician, epidemiologist and research assistant professor at Tufts University. He like teaching children and looks forward to working at RSM-MetroWest

Dr. Hui Zhang holds a Ph.D. in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan. She taught college math courses after she received her M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Science and Technology Beijing in China. She was also a middle school teacher after she had her B.S. in Mathematics from the Central China Normal University. Currently, she is a biostatistician in a pharmaceutical company. She has a strong passion for teaching math. She also loves being with her family during her spare time.

Naveen Vuppala has a MS in Image Processing and Robotics from Technical University, Braunschweig, Germany. He is currently working as Principal Software Engineer in the field of Patient Specific medical devices. He enjoys spending time with kids teaching Mathematics and solving math puzzles.

H. (Hare) Krishna graduated from Wichita State University with an M.S. in Industrial Engineering. While at Wichita State, he taught Physics and Calculus to undergraduate students. Hare has over 18 years of experience in adult learning and talent development. He is very passionate about tutoring young children and has a great love for Mathematics. His hobbies include traveling, and playing soccer and cricket.

Gulderen Deniz earned a B.S. in Mathematics in Turkey, then earned an M.S. in Mathematics Education from Old Dominion University in Virginia. She holds a Massachusetts teaching license for high school mathematics. In the past she taught math in high schools in Virginia and Massachusetts. Her experience also includes several years of private tutoring at middle, high school and college level. She is passionate about teaching math and forging relationships with her students that help build a sense of confidence and enable them to grow as learners. In her spare time she likes reading, cooking, watching movies and taking walks in the nature.

Muthu Uma Somasundaram earned her B.S. degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from Anna University, India. She was an active participant in the Australian Talent Test and Olympiad Competitions while in middle school and an All-India Rank holder in Math while in high school.
Uma is an avid fan of mathematics and loves to share her knowledge and enthusiasm with children. Uma enjoys music as well, and she sings as often as possible in her free time.

Natalia Kodatenko Shaw graduated
from Donetsk International University
(Ukraine) with BS in Teaching
Mathematics, and holds her Educators
License in teaching math (grades 8-12)
issued by The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts DESE since 2004.

Her international experience includes teaching mathematics in Eurasia (7 years) and USA (15 years). She joined RSM team in 2015. Natalia’s great interpersonal skills enable her to ignite a great desire for a life-time discovery and learning in her students. For years she has been an enthusiastic volunteer and interpreter for Chernobyl Project and Literacy program at Quincy Library where she touched hearts of many people from different cultures who were new to America. She loves Russian language and literature, and enjoys ballroom dancing, drawing, reading, philosophical discussions and theater.

Joshua Keefe earned his B.S. in bioengineering from UCLA. During his time at UCLA, Joshua conducted research in diagnostics, and holds a patent for developing a point-of-care diagnostic device for the Zika virus. He also co-authored a scientific manuscript describing the role of cyclic-AMP-mediated multi-generational signaling in bacterial surface adhesion. Currently, he works at the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), integrating clinical and longitudinal data from the FHS with the latest advances in genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to elucidate the complex relations between cardiovascular traits and the onset of cardiovascular disease. He plans to attend medical school in two years and pursue a career as a physician-scientist.

The purely quantitative nature of his prior and current research has helped Joshua appreciate the importance of strong mathematics and logical reasoning skills in conducting effective scientific research, and he developed a passion for helping others develop these key foundations. In addition to tutoring math and science for Creative Academics, Joshua has also taught at the Los Angeles Math Circle at the early elementary level. He has a passion for teaching students of all ages and strives to help students develop a true appreciation for what they are learning. Joshua teaches elementary school at RSM-MetroWest.